Report: Training camps to start on time

With the ongoing pandemic still hanging over the U.S., the NFL is doing what it can to push forward with the 2020 season. Meetings have been frequent, especially over the last couple of weeks, as leaders try to get the proper protocols in place to ensure everyone is as safe as possible. With so much clarification about the league’s plan needed, there was some uncertainty about whether or not training camps would start as planned.

That uncertainty, apparently, is gone.

On Friday, the NFL held another meeting, and some big news came out of it. As first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, training camps will begin on time. Shortly after that news broke, ESPN’s Adam Schefter followed up with some confirmation regarding what was discussed—and agreed upon—at Friday’s meeting:

Then, after Schefter’s tweet, the NFL Players Association confirmed that its executive committee has unanimously voted to recommend the proposed changes to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Players will still need to approve the changes, of course.

This is obviously huge news, and there are a lot of details trickling out about what exactly the sides talked about in Friday’s meeting. Rapoport later reported the following:

Buccaneers rookies and quarterbacks reported to the team’s facility on Thursday for their first round of COVID-19 testing, and now with training camps beginning as scheduled across the league, the rest of the group will officially report on Tuesday. Training camp may not look like it does in a normal year, but this is no normal year, that’s for sure.

There’s likely more news to come, but it sounds as if football is on its way back.

UPDATE: NFLPA player reps have approved the proposal with a 29-3 vote.